Spring 2014

Welcome!

I attended San Diego Mesa College for two years before transferring into the Anthropology Program at UC Berkeley. While there, I volunteered a lot. I strongly urge students to consider volunteering as a way to set themselves apart from their competition. I volunteered in the then Human Evolution Lab with Dr. Tim White and Dr. F. Clark Howell, now deceased, but whose work in archaeology has left a strong legacy. After 2 months of volunteer work, I was offered a position in fossil prep at the Museum of Paleontology.

After two years at Berkeley, I was very interested in the field of Paleoanthropology and decided on a particular school. The Universite de Bordeaux 1 and its' Quarternary Institute particularly, is considered to be one of the top schools in the world for this topic, also at the time, France had the largest number of Neandertal specimens which is what I wanted to get my hands on.

I received a Master’s degree in Biological Anthropology, with emphasis in paleoanthropology in 1996. My research emphasis was on Neandertal cranial bones and this variation in modern human populations. I used CT technology to conduct my research along with a good deal of archaeological excavation that included Paleolithic Neandertal cave sites in the South of Spain and excavation in France. I also spent much of my time giving lectures and doing research in Indonesia, lots of countries in Europe, North Africa and Japan.

I began my teaching career in 2000 and taught at many colleges and universities in San Diego. I was hired for the full-time position at Saddleback College in 2005.

I have been the anthro club advisor for 6 years now. We have gone on camp outs, trips to museums and have attended conferences and flintknapping workshops. Please contact me if you are interested in more information.